White Horses Over Rohan
by TheIdesofMarch
Summary: On the anniversary of their father's disappearance, three sisters set out to hike around their favorite lake. A freak storm sends them far from their average lives and into the arms of peril. On their adventure to find a way home they meet new friends, terrible enemies, and great love. The way home holds the greatest of costs, however.
1. The Hike

_It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all._ June Porter stared at the framed quote that hung from the wall in her father's untouched study, not truly seeing it. Her mind was preoccupied with faded memories of camping trips and days spent on a boat, early morning chores and late night bonfires. Too many years had passed for there to be tears, instead, she smiled fondly as she turned her attention to a photo of her two sisters and herself precariously perched on a huge boulder somewhere in Wisconsin. Another photo hung nearby, a posed family shot done the year her father disappeared.

She had been 14, her sisters just 12 and 8, when her father had taken a solo hike into the Minnesota backwoods. He never returned and his body was never recovered. The woods of northern Minnesota are vast and many carnivorous animals made their home there. It wasn't hard to imagine what had happened to him.

June cut her own thoughts off before they could turn morbid and stepped away from the wall of memories. The rest of the office was decorated in the same inspirational quotes and family memorabilia, his desk was still stacked with dog-eared nature guides and maps of every forest and state park in the country. When she was a teenager she resented the fact that her mother had kept the office a paralyzed shrine. It made her ache every time she walked by and saw the empty desk chair. Now, she was eternally grateful. She missed her father with every part of being, he had been her rock, her safe harbor, her mentor and now his memory lived on in this place.

The front door slamming shut drew June's attention away from her reminiscence. A huge smile lit up her face and she jogged out of the room and down the stairs. Standing in the doorway was a petite, round-faced, tornado of a woman. Her wild auburn hair was loose and feral complementing the fire in her cobalt eyes.

"Junie!" June braced herself as her youngest sister, Ella, ran towards her, dropping her bags mid-stride, she wrapped her arms around June and squeezed.

"Hey Squirt, how goes life in the big city?" June blew an errant strand of Ella's hair away from her nose and finally let go of her baby sister.

"It's amazing June!" Ella grabbed her bags and made a beeline for her old room. "I met this old woman from Scotland the other day at work, _Scotland_ June, can you even imagine? She was so sweet and told me all about her family and everything and oh my god, June. So Caleb was almost fired last week... " Ella continued her fast-paced monologue as she tossed her bags on her bed and pulled off the blue blazer she had been wearing. June just shook her head and leaned against the door frame, waiting for Ella to pause a minute to breathe.

"...But that's not the only thing, I guess this guy was also in some off broadway musical about some obscure author I can't remember the name of," Ella finally broke off her continuous run-on sentence and looked slightly sheepish. "I'm talking a lot."

"I'd be concerned if you weren't," June said, laughing. "Mel is probably waiting for us though and I have to change."

They met Mel at the top of the hill set at the back of the property. The wealth of the farm house and barn could be seen from the crest of the hill where a large boulder sat. The middle sister stood near the boulder pensively looking out at the expanse of woods that abutted the property. She was all seriousness and order in balance to Ella's chaos. She sported a short haircut, ruffled by the constant Minnesota wind. Her pale skin contrasted brightly against the black windbreaker she wore, her blazing copper hair a torch against the grey sky.

"Melly..." Sang June breaking away from Ella to pull the younger Porter into a hug. The sisters embraced awkwardly for a moment before June and Ella deposited brightly colored bouquets of wildflowers at the base of the boulder. Mel had already placed a single, huge, sunflower blossom there.

Ella let her fingers trace the etching in the stone memorial. One side of the boulders craggy face had been shorn smooth, a plaque engraved into the shiny surface. Their mother had defaced the lonely stone, a stone that had stood atop the hill since before their father had purchased it when June was just a toddler, not as a memorial but as a beacon of hope that he would someday return.

"He's still out there somewhere," Ella muttered sullenly. It was a sentiment that was hard to avoid this time of year. June wrapped a supportive arm around her baby sister and pulled her close, tucking her into her side. She reached her other arm out to Mel who awkwardly leaned into the embrace. They stood like that for a long while before Mel sidled away and without a word began the descent to the house. Ella and June followed soon after.

As they entered the house through the backdoor the rich smell of baking bread greeted them. Their mother was home. Mel was the first through the door and headed straight for the kitchen where she found the elder Porter washing the dirtied dishes from her baking.

"Smells wonderful Mom," Mel said plucking an already made muffin from the table top and taking a big bite. Hilda Porter was the aged photocopy of Mel, from hairstyles to the way they held themselves. Though grey streaked her copper locks and laugh lines drew their way across her eyes and mouth.

"Mom!" Ella barged into the kitchen and bear hugged her mother.

"Ellie!" Hilda greeted her youngest daughter with a laugh. "Where is your sister?"

"Upstairs." Ella said through a mouthful of muffin. Echoing footsteps coming down the stairs punctuated the statement and June entered the kitchen, a green bag hanging from her arm.

"Oh, presents!" Ella cheered like a child, clapping her hands together enthusiastically. Mel rolled her eyes, it was just like June to bring home a bag of trinkets.

"Sit yourself down, child." June laughed, a hand thrust outward, keeping her puerile sister at bay. "Hi, mom." She kissed her mom on the cheek before digging into her bag.

"For Mel." She handed Mel a small package, wrapped in purple paper. Inside was an old swiss army knife, it's red handle was scuffed with age, but on the side, it still read Porter in faded black sharpie.

"It was dads, he gave it to me when I was 12 and we were camping in the Uintas." Mel's face was ever stoic but she reached out and hugged June.

"Thank you." June smiled back, her hazel eyes glowing.

"You're welcome."

Next June pulled a beaded clutch from the bag and handed it to their mother, explaining that it had been made by the Apache on a reservation not far from where she was living. Finally, Ella, nearly to the point of bursting, reached out and grabbed the little, wrapped box June offered her. Inside was a set of linked silver bangles shined and clinked together harmonically.

"They're beautiful June!" Ella gasped slipping them over her hand, they jingled as she shook her arm, admiring them. "Thank you!" June smiled fondly and hugged her baby sister tightly.

"I'm glad you all like them." June smiled fondly sitting at the table.

Dinner was full of laughter and stories. Ella dominated the conversation, as usual, making the exchange easy. Mel found herself relaxing and enjoying her younger sisters prattling for once, it might have been the bottle of Merlot that she and June had shared though. Eventually, the four women retired to the living room with hot cider and homemade pie.

The night grew long, mugs and plates discarded, old photo albums had been dragged from their shelves and now lay open on the coffee table. Ella had fallen asleep a while ago, her head resting in June's lap. Mel had perched herself next to the dying fire and Hilda sat across from June and Ella.

"How long will you be in town?" Hilda asked June.

"Three weeks," June said quietly, running her fingers through Ella's hair. Hilda nodded and sat back in her chair, her eyes falling shut. June turned her attention to the sister that was awake.

"How are things at the store?" she asked.

"Good, good." Mel said stretching her legs out in front of her. "Been pretty busy with tourists coming into town." Mel had opened a sporting goods store the previous year. Partially in memory of their father and partially as a way to justify staying in the small town. "We should get to bed."

"I suppose so." June sighed and looked fondly down at Ella. "I don't think we can carry her anymore."

"I dunno, I bet we could." Mel laughed. She stood and stretched, her fingers reaching for the ceiling.

"Well, I'm not going to try," June said with a chuckle. She gently moved Ella and placed a pillow under her head. Mel was waking their mother to usher her upstairs with them. Slowly they made their way up to the second floor and said their goodnights.

Mel hesitated at the door to her old room. She turned back to June who was crossing the hall to the bathroom.

"I'm glad you guys are home," she said. Her mouth was pursed and she refused to look at June.

"I love you too Melly," June laughed. She crossed the hall and embraced her sister. "Dad would be so proud of you, with the store and all."

"I hope so," Mel said quietly. "I'm gonna go to bed now."

"Night, Mel."

"Night, June."

"Good lord woman, come on!" Ella was hanging out the passenger side of the old Jeep Mel drove, her copper curls spilling out of her ponytail. She was calling for June who was still standing in the kitchen with their mother.

"Call when you get to the park please?" Hilda asked.

"Yes, mom."

"And keep-"

"And keep Ella out of trouble and Mel out of trees, yes mom," June laughed. "I've done this before."

"June, let's go!" The horn honking punctuated Ella's shouts. June gave her mom a quick hug, grabbed her pack and jogged out the door. She trotted down the step and threw her bag into the back of the Jeep before pulling the door open. Ella crawled into the back seat to allow June the front, taking the AUX cord with her. She put on some upbeat pop song on as Mel pulled the Jeep out of the driveway and they began their three-hour trip to Lake Wobegon.

The sun was high in the sky by the time they made it to the campgrounds of Lake Wobegon National Park. They had paid their fees, gotten a map from the park ranger, and mosied the 45 minutes through the park to the camping area. The park was over one thousand acres of wilderness with campsites placed here and there among hiking trails and on the lake itself. That is where the sisters planned to spend the next five days. Their camp was more secluded on the north side of the lake, tucked into looming ash trees and wild shrubbery. Ella was the first one out of the car, brightly colored knapsack bouncing behind her. June and Mel came slower, pulling equipment and coolers from the top of the Jeep. Mel pulled the tent off last and closed the back doors of the vehicle.

"On your left," Ella said jogging around Mel and taking the tent from her hands as she did.

"Be careful with that!" Mel yelped as Ella unzipped the tent's case and spilled its contents onto the forest floor.

"It's a tent, Mel," Ella shrugged.

"It's an expensive tent," Mel muttered. June shook her head and smiled as they started to piece together the tent. That endeavor in itself took an entire hour much to Mel's annoyance.

"Elle, why don't you get us some kindling?" Mel suggested. They had finally finished the tent to her liking and were settling into their campsite. June had assembled the pit grill over the fire pit and Mel was rolling large logs over to serve as chairs.

"Ugh, fine," the youngest pouted. She pushed herself off the ground where she sat and meandered into the woods, picking up small twigs as she went.

"Not two hours into this and she's already driving me crazy." Mel rubbed her temples.

"Try not to be so hard on her," June sighed sitting hard on a log.

"I'm not being hard on her June, she's so... immature!"

"Mel, she's only 19," June said. "If I remember correctly you fell out a tree and broke your tibia when you were 19. Just... try to be a little more understanding. She doesn't mean to annoy you, she's just trying to help." Mel rolled her eyes and tossed a stick into the fire pit.

"Fine," she said, her lips pulled into a thin line.

"We are going to have all sorts of fun." June insisted. Ella came tripping out of the woods a few seconds later, her arms laden with sticks. June jumped up to help with Mel following slower.

Night fell and the sisters gathered around a blazing fire. June had pulled out all the stuff to make s'mores, the smell of burning marshmallows thick in the air. Ella sat between her sisters, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders to keep the chill at bay.

"Isn't the lake suppose to be haunted or something?" She asked blowing on her latest fireball.

"Oh no, not this again," June groaned and leaned back, laughter on her lips.

"It's not haunted," Mel said sardonically. "There's aliens in these parts."

"Aliens?" June couldn't help but laugh this time. "Ghosts sound more plausible."

"Wait, so what exactly happened?" Ella asked through a mouthful of gooey sweets.

"Back in the seventies a bunch of hippies went missing." Mel scoffed. "Probably got lost and eaten by a mountain lion, but people were reporting strange lights and weird weather around that time too."

"We've been coming here for 11 years and strangest weather we've ever seen was that rainbow over the lake." Ella laughed.

"Exactly," Mel nodded.

"What if it's something though," June said quietly. "I mean, not aliens or ghosts, but what if someone was like, murdering those hippies."

"What?" Ella's eyes grew wide and she shifted closer to Mel.

"You never know what might be lurking in the SHADOWS!" June reached out and grabbed Ella, roaring as she did so. The youngest woman shrieked and fell backward off her log. Mel and June dissolved into hysterical laughter.

"You are terrible June Porter!" Ella shouted picking herself up. "You're lucky mom's not here." Once fully on her feet Ella huffed indignantly and stomped off to the tent.

"Oh, come on baby sister!" June yelled at the tent. Mel was still chuckling.

"I thought I was supposed to be the mean one?" she asked.

"I have to pick on her once in awhile too," June said. "I suppose we should go to bed too." Mel nodded in agreement, stood, and stretched. They doused the fire and ducked into the tent to find Ella already curled up in the middle of their sleeping bags, her blanket covering her head.

"Night," they said in unison as Mel clicked off her flashlight.

Diluted morning sunlight filtered through the mesh tent windows pulling Mel from her sleep. She took a moment to just lay and listen to the world waking up around her. Birds chirped and fluttered from branch to branch overhead, a woodpecker tapped at a tree in hopes for breakfast. A loon's hollow call sounded off on the lake adding an extra bit of ambiance to the early morning. June and Ella were still sleeping, their breathing deep and steady, like a metronome, almost lulling her back to sleep. She opened her eyes instead and propped herself up on one elbow.

They had a long hike ahead and they needed to get an early start if they wanted to be back before nightfall. As quietly as she could she got up and exited the tent. She quickly threw on her hiking boots and a sweater, found the outhouse, and made her way back to camp. June was up now, she must have woken her leaving the tent. She already had their bags lined up, breakfast bars and bottles of water in hand. She was grateful for June, she wasn't nearly as chaotic as Ella but not as serious as Mel and she kept the balance between them. Most of the time.

"Morning."

"Good morning, there's a semi-coffee like substance in the thermos." June pointed to a battered green thermos that sat nestled into the lingering coals from last night's fire.

"Thanks." Mel settled onto a log and helped herself to the coffee. "Ella still sleeping?"

"Like a log as usual." June said. She pulled her dark hair into a ponytail, keeping it away from her face.

"We need to leave soon if we don't want to hike in the dark." They planned on hiking the entire circumference of the lake which would take the entire day with Ella and June. Mel could have probably done it in half a day if she wanted to. She had to remind herself this was about sisterly bonding, not who could hike the quickest.

"Be my guest and try to wake her," June laughed. Mel rolled her eyes and stood up. She took one last big gulp of coffee and went to the tent. She unzipped the flap and ducked inside. Ella was still wrapped in the blanket and sleeping bags. Her hair was a mass of wild tendrils spilled about her head. Mel almost hated to wake her up, she was peaceful, innocent, best of all quiet. She sighed in defeat and squatted down to poke Ella's cheek.

"Ella, wake up," she said.

"Mmummit," Ella swatted Mel's hand away and rolled over.

"Oh no, no. We gotta go, little girl!" Mel tore the blanket away from Ella's body.

"Mel, what the hell," Ella grumbled, reaching for the blanket.

"Let's go!" Mel quickly dodged Ella's flailing hands and slipped out of the tent, blanket in hand. Ella followed, slower and less graceful. Her eyes were half shut, her shoulders slumped and her feet dragging. June placed a cup of coffee into her hands. She took a deep swig of the coffee, stumbled over to the fire pit and sat down.

"You are the devil," She mumbled, half glaring in Mel's general direction.

"Proudly," Mel said tossing the blanket over Ella's head as she walked by. They all knew Ella wouldn't wake up fully until halfway through the hike. June made her put a sweater on and helped her get her pack on her shoulders. Ella sipped at her coffee and complied with zero fuss.

"Alright, let's go," Mel said slinging her own pack over her shoulders and heading for the trail. Ella gave an unintelligible reply but got to her feet, her eyes still half closed. They made their way through the quiet campgrounds, no other people seemed to camp this far North and the empty sites were haunting.

The trail head was easily spotted among the thick underbrush. It was the only gap in the twisting brambles and prickly blackberry bushes. Tall trees grew on either side of the path creating an arching tunnel. A sign stood just outside the trail, it's faded letters reminding hikers to "Take only photos and leave only footprints." Underneath it read "Lake Wobegon Trail Access, 15.2 miles." Too familiar with the trail and the lake the sisters didn't even pause at the sign. They marched into the welcoming shade of the woods.

Not a quarter of the way around the lake the trail took a sudden western turn and inclined sharply. The path lead them up to a breathtaking vista, a rough outcropping of rocks, jutting from the side of the tall hill overlooked the entirety of Lake Wobegon. Sweat pricked at June's face as she pushed her burning calves to overcome the steep hill. When they reached the top they all stood on the precipice and soaked in the sights.

The lake sprawled below like a puddle of spilled juice. Its inky blue surface a testament to its depths. The sun reflected in dazzling flashes off its wind-ruffled surface. Overhead a hawk wheeled and dipped on the wind, searching for unsuspecting fish. Along the lakes outer edges tourists and snowbirds were emerging from their campers and lake houses to enjoy the beautiful morning. The shouts and laughs of children echoed off the trees that surrounded the lake. It was gloriously beautiful. Peaceful.

Mel breathed in the smell of water and pine trees, a scent that she would always find comfort in. The silent but warm presence of her sisters beside her calmed her. She hadn't felt this relaxed in years. A northern wind tore through the valley of trees suddenly, pulling at the sister's hair and clothes, making the ridge they stood on seem unstable. The once cloudless sky roiled with dark oily clouds, it was like something from a time-lapse video, the clouds moved too quickly and with a dangerous fervor. Lightning flashed across the sky from north to south followed shortly by a ground shaking crack of thunder.

"What the fuck?" Ella exclaimed gripping onto June's arm. The wind was tearing at the trees, tossing them back and forth like stalks of summer grass. Lightning flashed again. "What is going on?"

"It's just a storm, we have to get back to camp!" Mel shouted over the roaring winds. She pushed her sisters backward down the trail they had just struggled to get up. It grew darker still in the boughs of the woods if it were possible. So dark, Mel had to pull her flashlight from her pack to light they way down the hill. Another flash of lightning, this one too close for comfort. They hair on Mel's arms stood up. Ella gave a short scream, still clinging to June, as another resounding crack filled the air. This time it wasn't from a roll of thunder though. The path in front of them was blocked as a great trees fell, vibrating the ground they stood on as it made contact. Ella screamed again and Mel pushed them back up the hill.

June tried to concentrate on the bouncing flashlight beam instead of Ella's nails digging into her skin. She followed Mel closely, trusting her younger sister to lead them in the right direction. The ground beneath her feet suddenly felt wobbly, her head spun, or was it the earth spinning, she wasn't sure. Ella was screaming again and June was vaguely aware that they had fallen to met the ground at some point. She felt upside down, like the earth itself had flipped axises. She opened her eyes, when had she closed them? Mel was a few feet away, still standing but on shaky legs. The storm was gone.

"Everyone okay?" June asked, her voice unnaturally low.

"Yeah," Mel's reply was short, bewildered.

"No." Ella sounded close to tears.

June pushed herself up from the ground. Something wasn't right. It was still dark. Mel was turning in slow circles not far from her, flashlight catching on stones and shrubs that shouldn't have been growing there. Curiously she looked to the dark sky, expecting to see a grey wall of clouds, instead, an infinite sea of dancing stars stretched across the canopy of tree tops.

"June," Mel couldn't speak above a whisper, her face twisted in confused horror. She tore her gaze away from the endless stars to her elder sister who was trying to get Ella to her feet. "June!"

"What?" June asked defeatedly.

"Look up," Mel pointed to the sky and June followed her direction, tilting her head back. Her mouth fell open.

"How?" She whispered. "It wasn't even noon yet, how, did we..." Her voice failed her as she gaped at the jeweled sky above.

"I don't know," Mel said, a look of determination on her face. "But we need to get back to camp." June nodded and turned to where Ella still sat on the ground. The trail should have been directly behind her, a sudden drop to where the hill descended into the valley. However, that wasn't the case. Large boulders stood there instead, effectively blocking the way.

"That might be easier said than done." June turned back to Mel and pointed look on her face.

"What in the world?" Mel gasped. "This is impossible." June was already to the other side of the hill looking for a roundabout trail. The world did drop away here, only it seemed to never stop.

"Mel," June called to her. "Mel were stuck." Mel jogged over, flashlight in hand. She shined the light into the dark, it caught on craggy cliffs as it went down then faded to black.

"Okay," Mel shook her head. "I guess we wait for sunrise."

"If it comes," June muttered to no one but herself.

"We should make camp, a fire at the least." Mel said wandering back to Ella.

The sisters huddled together, the boulders to their backs, the measly fire they had created in front of them, casting their faces in jumping shadows. None of them were particularly tired so they resorted to theories about the storm.

"Maybe we all got hit by that tree and were in a coma." Ella suggested, nestled between the two elder sisters.

"A collective coma?" Mel asked incredulously.

"For all I know you're a figment of my imagination." Ella snorted.

"Can a figment do this?" Mel reached over and pinched Ella hard on the arm.

"Ow!" Ella retorted with a smack.

"Good lord, stop, you're both grown women!" June interjected. "It doesn't matter how it matters that we get through it. When the sun comes up we will find a way off this hill and back to camp."

Ella and Mel sulked, staring into the fire. Eventually, Ella dozed off, she could sleep in the strangest places. June was next, her head settled on Ella's who had tucked into her side. Mel struggled to keep her eyes open, the fire had long dimmed and it seemed like the world was getting lighter. Maybe that was wishful thinking. She heard the mocking call of a bird in the distance just before her eyes slid shut and sleep took her.

When the first rays of light crept over the boulders and shined onto the ridge Ella woke up. She blinked as she took in her surroundings, dread filling her like a cold lead. She had hoped it had all been a dream.

"Oh my god," She whispered, untangling herself from her sisters. What they hadn't seen in the night's blackness was the outcropping of rocks they had stood upon in the storm. It was still there, the ground before them ran for only a brief few feet, inclining slightly before dropping into nothing. Carefully Ella crept towards the edge, breath held her in her throat. The lake was gone. Below lay a stretch of prairie grass, vast and unyielding, the golden stalks shimmering and waving in the breeze. To the south, a long line of jagged peaks, frosted with white snow, cut the horizon as far as she could see. Panic rose in her chest sending her backward, away from the new sight. She closed her eyes, squeezing them together as if that would change what she saw.

"This can't be real," She repeated the phrase several times before opening her eyes again. She scrambled over to her sisters.

"Mel, wake up!" She shook Mel, her hands on her shoulders.

"Huh?" Mel shot up like someone had electrocuted her.

"We are on a mountain," Ella said pointing to the cliff.

"What?" Mel groggily looked in the directing of the drop-off. "June." She slapped her older sister lightly. She jerked awake, looking disgruntled.

"We are on a friggin' mountain!" Ella screeched, she pulled Mel to her feet and dragged her to the edge of the cliff. June slowly followed after, sleep still in her eyes. As soon as she reached the edge to stand with her sisters her eyes grew wide.

"There are no mountains in Minnesota," Mel rasped.

"No, no there's not." June confirmed taking in the very different scenery.

The three sisters stood there for a long time, staring out at prairie and mountains that stretched below. The golden morning sun bathed them in warm light, yet they all felt indescribably chilled.


	2. The Beginning

Voices floated down to them on the clear morning air jerking Mel out of her shock-induced stupor. She quickly spun towards the mountain, eyes searching for a source to sound.

"People," Ella gasped, her eyes wide. They cautiously walked back to the cliff face that towered above the ledge they were seemingly trapped on. Above the voices grew louder.

"Hey!" Ella shouted up the wall of rock, hoping to catch the attention of whoever might be above them. Mel and June caught on and started shouting too. The voices ceased and small pebbles and rocks fell over the side of the cliff as someone leaned over to look down at them.

"Little help?" Mel called up, her hand against her forehead to shield the brightening sun. The person disappeared and there was a muffled conversation. Mel turned to her sisters with a dismissive shrug. Moments later a rope fell down the sheer rock face. The three women stood staring at the rope in various degrees of disbelief.

"Climb!" came a call from above, an arm waved them up.

"HA!" Ella shook her head and took a step back. "That's not gonna happen." Mel ignored Ella's protest and took the rope in her hand. It was rough and thickly braided like it was homemade.

"I'll go first," she said. She tugged on the rope to ensure its stability. She thanked every deity that existed that climbing was one of her more utilized hobbies. It took her less than 10 minutes to scale the cliff and was tugged over the last two feet. Ella and June watched nervously as her feet vanished over the top.

Several tense moments passed as they waited for Mel to give them the go-ahead. Finally, her red hair poked over the side and she beckoned them up.

"You next," June said handing the rope to Ella.

"How about no?" Ella shoved the rope away, shaking her head again.

"Ella, you will die on this ledge if you do not climb up this cliff." June growled. "Do you want to die?" Ella's face drew together in an angry pout and she snatched the rope away from June. "That's what I thought."

Ella stared up the cliff, a knot forming in her stomach. It couldn't have been more than twenty feet high probably, but it seemed like a towering skyscraper to her. She pulled the rope taught and pressed a foot to the rocks. She leaned back and pulled her weight up using the rope for leverage. She made it halfway up when her left foot slipped and she slammed against the rocks, clinging to the rope for dear life. Tears stung her eyes and she whimpered looking up to where Mel was leaning over the edge.

"I can't do it!" She cried. The rope was cutting into her hands.

"Yes, you can!" June yelled from the ground.

"Come on," Mel leaned down further, her hand outstretched. She was only another ten feet away. Ella took a deep breath, repositioned her feet and hauled herself up another two feet. Four feet, six feet, eight. She made it into Mel's reach and with the help of the strangers on the cliff, she was pulled over the edge. She rolled across the ground and came to a stop, staring unblinkingly at the sky. "Thank god."

June came next, slower than the others, her arms and legs shook and burned from years of disuse, but she never lost her will. She kept her eyes on the rock in front of her and Mel above. If she even thought about looking down she would have lost her equilibrium and will to continue inching up the side of the mountain. Finally, she made it to the edge and was pulled over. She couldn't manage to stand just yet and her hands were raw and trembling.

"Our new friends have informed me that we are in Gondor, wherever that is," Mel said matter-of-factly. June looked up to see the two men who found them. They were a sight themselves. They were burly looking, dark hair and eyes, with long errant beards that hid most of their dirty faces. Their clothes looked like the men they saw at the renaissance fest in Shakopee every year.

"Gondor?" June squinted at her hands distractedly, bits of the crude rope were stuck here and there and they were bleeding slightly.

"The white mountains?" One man said, his tone was helpful but his words were thick with an accent she couldn't place. He was shorter than the other, with a rounder figure and kind eyes that creased at the corners. The other was lanky and angular, watching with small eyes that weren't unlike a hawk or vultures. To make his appearance more intimidating two dead hares were clutched in his right hand, blood dripping from their noses.

"No idea," June muttered turning her scrutinizing gaze towards Mel.

"And where do three women, alone, presume to travel?" The hawk-like man spoke, his accent thicker, his voice was harsh and cold.

"We were hiking the perimeter of Lake Wobegon," Mel said clearly, her shoulders straightening in challenge to the man's presumptuous words.

"There is no such place." He said, his face drawn in suspicious confusion.

"Because it's disappeared," Ella said quietly. She had been standing a distance away, staring out at the reaching fields of golden grass.

"You speak nonsense. Has a madness befallen all of you? There has never been a lake on this side of the White Mountains, not in this age, not in any."

"What year is it?" June asked suddenly, a curious quirk in her eyebrows.

"3014 of the second age," the shorter man answered quickly, receiving a glare from the hawk-like one.

"What?" Mel was dumbfounded, her mouth fell open slightly. "This is a joke."

"A very elaborate one," June muttered. She pushed herself off the ground and dusted her pants off.

"Why do you question the year? What kind of witches are you?"

"Harron," the round-faced man stepped forward, putting himself between the sisters and the outraged hawk-man.

"We are not witches," Mel said incredulously.

"Excuse my friend," the shorter of the two turned back to the sisters, a hand over his chest. "I am Amondir and this is Harron, we are watchmen of Erelas." There was a long pause as the sister looked at each other, none sure of what to say.

"I am June, these are my sisters, Ella and Mel." June was the first to break the silence. "I don't know how we got here, but very clearly we are lost."

"Come with us, Erelas has supplies and roof, there is a storm coming." Amondir nodded to the south where grey clouds were spilling over the horizon. Without waiting he and Harron turned and sought out the path that led down the mountain. Mel grabbed Ella's arm as she went to follow and turned to June.

"So, we just follow the strangers so they can kill us?" Mel asked, thin eyebrows raised.

"Do we have much of a choice Mel?" June retorted. "I don't know where we are, or who those men are, but we don't stand much chance sitting here on these cliffs waiting for the lake to magically reappear. Besides there three of us and two of them, we have the advantage."

Ella followed close on June's heels as they marched down the mountain, Mel lagging behind slightly. True to Amondir's words the sky grew grey and rain began to pelt down on them as they reached the endless plains. In the foothills, great boulders created a labyrinth between the large mounds of earth that disturbed the flat landscape. They followed a well-used path around one of the larger rocks and a group of buildings came into view. Atop the tallest hill in sight stood a large tower of neatly stacked timber, a rough-hewn roof covered it from the elements, and a teardrop shape hung above the wood. A stone building with a thatched roof was nestled into the bottom of the hill, its solitary door facing them, smoke rising from the chimney. What appeared to be a barn was only a short distance away, June could smell the thick scent of horses and hay from where she was. Ella must have been staring because Amondir slowed slightly and looked to the tower.

"Erelas, a warning beacon of Gondor, we light them to warn the south of impending danger." He said.

"Them?" Ella asked. Amondir nodded.

"To the north and south, there are other beacons, when one is lit the other watchmen see it and light their beacons, the whole of Gondor knows of trouble within moments."

"I feel like cell phones would be easier," Ella said shrugging.

"Cell phones?" Amondir scrunched up his face in confusion.

"Right, of course." Ella shook her head, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Nevermind."

Amondir and Harron led them into the shack of a building, its grey walls stained dark by the falling rain. They ducked in the door, the sisters following closely. The inside of the shack was surprisingly roomie, a table took up most of the immediate space when they walked in the door and along the far side of the room bunks stood, built directly into the wall and ceiling. Four sets of bedding and various belongings were strewn about the bunk area. On the table maps and large wooden mugs were sitting in disarray. A chair had been drug away from the table to the mantle of a fireplace that was on the left wall. In the chair, an elderly man slept with his booted feet resting inches away from a crackling fire.

Amondir and Harron shed the cloaks they wore and hung them over the backs of the chairs set around the table. Harron threw the hares on the table, moved to the fire, swinging an iron kettle around to sit above the flames. He gently kicked the sleeping man who startled awake, a slurry of curse words spilling from his lips.

"We have visitors," he nodded to the sisters who stood awkwardly at the entrance. The old man let out a long low whistle.

"So's we does, so's we does…" June curled a lip at the lecherous gaze he cast over them.

"Ignore Gwaurhoth, what he lacks in manners he makes up for in … well nothing, to be completely honest, most nights he falls asleep on his watch, but he is harmless, really." Amondir chuckled as he cleared away the empty mugs and maps. Gwaurhoth nodded in agreement, propped his feet back up, and started snoring again.

"How many of you are there?" Mel asked suspiciously.

"Four," Harron said, shifting the fire around a bit and adding another log. Mel shot June a pointed look.

"Harron, why don't you relieve Galon of his watch?" Amondir suggested motioning for the sisters to sit at the table. Harron stiffened but did not argue, he quietly retrieved his cloak and left the shack. Amondir watched the door for a few moments before speaking quietly.

"We haven't much time before Galon will arrive," he cast a look at the still sleeping Gwaurhoth. "You are not of this world." This was not a question, not even close. The sisters looked at each other.

"We… don't know," June said, her eyes shifting from one sister to the other.

"You aren't, believe me," Amondir gave them a sad smile. "When I was a boy a woman came to Minas Tirith, she too claimed she knew not where she was, her clothes were odd, much like yours. She was brought before Steward and was proclaimed a mad witch. Harron suspects much the same of you."

"Wait, what?" Mel laid her hand on the table, holding herself steady.

"Harron and Galon will have you tried before the Steward," Amondir pressed on. "You will need to flee from here, tonight."

"Wait, how are we supposed to go anywhere, we have no idea where we _are_!" Ella squeaked a little too loudly. Amondir hushed her as Gwaurhoth snorted in his sleep but did not wake.

"I will send you with a map and supplies, different clothing as well."

"Where will we go, we know no one," June said, her brow furrowed.

"You will make for the Gap of Rohan, in the foothills there you will find a woman called Naurhoe or Margret to you, perhaps." Amondir stopped talking as the door swung open and young man tromped through the door. He couldn't have been older than sixteen, his face still holding to youthful roundness and acne. He had no beard and his eyes were an astonishing bright blue. He wore a sour look on his face and he silently walked through the shack, his soaked boots leaving wet prints in the dirt floor. He threw his cloak over a post for the bunks and sat heavy on the bottom one, removing his boots.

"Come with me," Amondir got up and grabbed his cloak, leading them outside into the rain. The sisters followed silently, heads bowed against the now howling winds that came out of the mountains. Amondir lead them to the barn, ushering them into the large doors.

"I apologize for the poor accommodations," Amondir said. "You will stay here until I can bring you the things you will need, it's dry and warm for the day anyway." He showed them to a clean, empty stall. Ella threw her pack in the corner and fell into the pile of hay at the back of the stall with a hmph.

"Thank you," Jane said sincerely. Amondir nodded and left them alone in the barn.

"What the fuck," Ella cursed from her corner of the stall. She sat with her legs crossed on the pile of hay, her hands tugging at her curly hair. June wandered into the stall and dropped her bag next to Ella's. Her head hurt from trying to figure out what was happening. She leaned against the stall wall, her head against her arms.

They stayed silent for a long time. Mel hadn't moved from her spot at the front of the stall, June was going to each horse in the stable and petting them, while Ella had taken to pacing the length of the barn aisle.

"What are we going to do?" Ella moaned as she came to a stop next to Mel.

"Survive," Mel said determinedly. "We are going to do exactly what we have to do to either get home, or wake up, or whatever to get back to normal. We are going to survive this." Mel had realized as they were being escorted to the barn that their lives were very real danger here. Whether she was dreaming or hallucinating or if this was real. They were all at risk. This was not the tame woods of home where they had grown up. Their survival was not a sure thing here.

"Right, alright, we got this." Ella nodded her head, her words more an affirmation to herself. "We can do this."

"We know how to survive the wild," June said joining them. "This is what dad was preparing us for."

"I don't think he had this exact situation in mind," Ella pointed out. June laughed and gave her little sister a shove. "Let's rest while we can."

Mel sat on the ground with her pack in front of her. Ella and June were playing Cat's Cradle while she sorted through the gear they had with them. As far as weapons went they had a bowie knife and the swiss army knife June had given her. They had exactly one packet of trail mix, a granola bar, and a half a pack of crackers that Ella had shoved in the bottom of her bag. Three bottles of water, six extra pairs of socks, courtesy of their mother no doubt, and a copy of some regency novel that belonged to June. Mel had a thirty-foot length of rope and two carabiners, a compass, and her flashlight. None of them had packed essentials as they had expected the hike to be short.

"Shit," a sudden thought flew through Mel's mind.

"What?" June asked, her eyes on her sister.

"Mom," Mel sighed. "Did anyone call her when we got to camp?"

"No…" Ella's mouth stayed in that o shape as the realization hit her.

"We better get home before the end of the week," June said collapsing the string she and Ella had been stringing between them. "It's going to be like dad for her all over again."

"Only we won't be there to help. She's going to send out a frigging manhunt for us."

"Damn it," Mel got to her feet, shoving all their stuff into her pack. The world was getting darker and Mel pulled out her flashlight to give them some semblance of light.

"I have to pee," Ella said suddenly, her face a mask of horror. June laughed and pointed to the back of the barn where a pile of soiled straw was. "Ugh." She got up and walked to the back of the barn, griping the whole way.

"You okay?" June asked Mel, helping return the gear to the pack.

"Not really," Mel said with more venom than she had intended.

"Yeah, me either, I keep thinking this has to be a dream, but… it's not…" June fidgeted with the rope before shoving it in the pack.

"How do you know?" Mel asked.

"Does it _feel_ like a dream?" June asked. "I know it feels surreal, but dreams aren't this structured. This isn't a dream. This world is as real as ours." She reached out and pushed her hand against the stall wall for effect. "I just can't believe this is real though."

"I know what you mean," Mel sat down and stared at the beams above her. Ella came stumbling back to them, adjusting her spandex running pants as she walked.

"They probably think we are harlots," June said watching her sister hike her pants up.

"Harlots, whores, witches," Mel waved the flashlight around to accentuate her point. "We might as well plan on burning at the stake right now." They all laughed but it faded into awkward silence as they considered the very real possibility.

"Who do you think this Na… Nu… Margret woman is?" Ella asked positioning herself back into the haystack.

"She must be from our world, maybe?" June suggested.

"If she's still here that means she hasn't found a way home yet either…" Mel said, the words sticking to the back of her tongue. Strangely she was becoming less worried about not finding her way home. Maybe she was going into shock.

"Maybe she didn't want to go home," June said.

"I guess we'll find out, let's just hope it's not too far away," Mel said.

As the night grew darker around them the sisters huddled together in the haystack, listening to the sound of rain and wind and scurrying rodents (much to Ella's displeasure). Eventually, the rain gave away and just the wind whistled through the cracks of the barn. Mel had turned the flashlight off to conserve batteries and she was pretty sure Ella and June were sleeping. She always seemed to be the last one awake, even when they were kids. Sleep wasn't something she needed a ton of. The others though, god help anyone who disturbed their sleeping patterns.

Mel jumped at the sound of the barn door being opened. She jumped to her feet, flashlight at the ready, shining in the direction of the door.

"It's only me," Amondir shielded his eyes from the light of the flashlight. He was laden with clothes and leather satchels. "These will have to suffice." He dropped the bags and handed Mel the pile of clothing. "What is that?" He asked, nodding towards Mel's flashlight.

"Flameless torch," She said, having caught on to the medieval feel everything had. She heard him mutter something along the lines of 'fascinating' as she went and woke her sisters.

"There's a week's worth of cram, you'll have to ration or hunt along the way, there is not much between here and there save wild hare and the occasional migrating goose so eat sparingly." Amondir opened a satchel and withdrew two sets of long knives. "Can any of you wield these?" June bit back a laugh, it was more likely that they'd impale themselves.

"Doubtful," Mel said. "I'm guessing you stick them with the pointy end though."

"That's the gist of it." Amondir handed Mel a set of knives and another to Ella who reached for them readily. He then went back to the door and hefted a quiver of arrows and a bow over his shoulder.

"That I can probably handle," Mel said admiring the curve of the bow. She had been in 4-H archery camps since she could walk almost. She handed the knives over to June and took the bow from Amondir, testing its draw weight. She easily drew it to the corner of her lip and aimed it at an empty wall. She nodded in approval.

"You'll want to sleep in shifts, there are less savory things in the open than Gwaurhoth," Amondir said. "Wargs and Orcs roam the lands openly now, they prefer to move at night."

"What and what?" Ella said, eyes wide.

"Wargs, Wolves of Gundabad," Amondir answered like they should know what he was talking about. "They are wolves with the intelligence of a man and the malevolence of Morgoth himself. And Orcs, Orcs are the creatures of nightmares and they won't hesitate to feast upon you while you scream."

"Okay!" June interjected seeing Ella's eyes widen with every word Amondir said.

"I'm not going out there," Ella said, her pale face somehow even paler. June shot a glare at Amondir who looked sheepish. Mel kept a stiff upper lip though she too seemed paler in the blue light of the flashlight.

"How long should it take us?" Mel asked setting the bow and quiver aside.

"Four days at most, going slowly," Amondir replied. "Take horses, they will get you there faster."

"Who is the quickest, the gentlest, and the surest?" June asked, her eyes lit up. Horses were her area of expertise.

"The bay with a white face is the fastest, he is Fleetfoot. The little grey is gentle, she is Windstar, and the big bay with no white is the one I trust most, you may take him, he is called Bellbor." Amondir looked fondly at the large horse that had his head swung over the stall door, watching them.

"Why are you helping us?" Mel asked, not ungraciously.

"Because all those years ago, when I was a boy, that woman who came to Minas Tirith, she saved my life." He looked at his feet. "It was because of me that she was brought to the Steward. I should like to repay her somehow. If you can get to her, help her find her way home too. That would be enough." Mel nodded her understanding.

"Thank you," she said quietly. Amondir nodded solemnly and pulled a map from one of the bags. It was made of thick pressed paper adhered to a thinner skin to keep it dry. He rolled it out of the dirt floor, the hand drawn landscape deep and black against the pale paper. June and Ella gathered around them.

"You will stay along the mountains the entirety of the way, they will be your guide and your shelter." He drug his finger up the map until the mountains broke apart and the words 'The Gap Of Rohan' were written in fine calligraphy. "Naurhoe resides here, in the southern edge of the gap. You will find three large boulders in a perfect line, follow those to the mountain path, you will have to lead the horses from there, the way is treacherous. The path will lead you straight to her home. A warning though; she may not… be welcoming."

Mel raised her eyebrow but didn't say anything, she was their only hope.

"Keep to the rocks and boulders at night, do not kindle a fire lest you attract all the orcs in the kingdom." Amondir's face was drawn and serious. Mel nodded her understanding and peered at the map.

"Thank you Amondir, we truly appreciate it," she rolled the map up and placed it into a bag. June walked off to get the horses ready and Ella followed.

"I am the only one on watch now, you must go quickly, while the others sleep." Amondir stood up and looked thoughtfully at Mel. "May your journey be swift and without perils." He left them in the barn, leaving a feeling of foreboding in his wake.

June made quick work of saddling up the horses, though the straps were a bit more cumbersome everything seemed to work the same. She gave Ella the small grey mare, Windstar, Mel the bay, Bellbor, and took Fleetfoot for herself. She knew if anything happened she was the best rider and could run for help. Mel packed the new satchels accordingly, a weapon in each and split the necessities in case they got separated. Ella sorted through the clothes they were given. Rough wool tunics and equally as rough pants. There was a leather jerkin that would fit only Mel, flat chested as she was, and three well-worn cloaks. She furrowed her brow and held up a pair of pants.

"Wearing this is necessary?" She asked.

"I'm thinking, if we want to blend in, yeah," Mel said.

"I'm keeping my undies," Ella said, contorting her face in a disgusted look.

"Probably a good idea, I don't think these have been washed in a while," June picked up a light colored tunic, sweat stains visible in the white lamp light.

"That's gross." Mel agreed.

They each took a tunic, pants, and cloak. June opted to not only keep her bra and underwear but the t-shirt she wore as well. Ella and Mel tucked their 'normal' clothes into their packs and they all swapped their hiking boots for the smooth soled traveling boots Amondir had given them. None of their pants fit correctly and it had June giggling quietly to herself. Hers were too tight, hugging all the wrong places of her lower body, she was grateful for the tunic's length. Ella and Mel's were too big, they both had belts cinched to the tightest place possible around their hips. Ella's flooded around her ankles, too long to be decent so she tucked them into her boots. Poor Mel had the opposite problem, as the tallest she had a good inch of uncovered ankle. Clearly, all of the clothes had belonged to Amondir and it was useless to try and swap them. Instead, they all looked like homeless renaissance enthusiasts.

Lastly, Mel found a crude pitchfork, worked a hole into the pile of soiled straw, and buried their brightly colored nylon packs into it. Hopefully, they would just be forgotten there.

They led the horse from the barn, around the far side so they couldn't see the watch tower. Mel helped June up onto the large horse who snorted tossed his head excitedly. She turned to Ella who was holding the reins of her horse out slightly and eyeing the poor animal suspiciously. The mare stood there inconspicuously, her head hung low, and her eyes drooping.

"No," Ella said, shaking her head. "I can't ride! You know I can't!"

"Oh for the love of all that is holy, Ella!" Mel said grabbing the reins and tossing them over the horse's head. "Get on."

"I can't." Ella spit, her arms crossed.

"It's not going to be a pleasant walk, Ella, get on the damn horse!" Mel was on the verge of yelling.

"Stop it! Both of you." June called from the back of her prancing and pawing horse. "Ella you either ride your mare, or you ride with me." Ella stared at the impatient horse with wary eyes.

"I'm good, I can walk."

"You can't keep up on foot," Mel argued. June's horse snorted again and rose up on his back feet slightly, clearly anxious to get moving. June huffed and rolled her eyes at the horse's behavior but was extremely annoyed.

"For fuck's sake Ella, get on the horse!" She snarled. June didn't do well on a lack of sleep.

"June…" She whined.

"Ella, please," June sighed. "That mare is half dead, she's not going to hurt you!"

"Fine," Ella turned to the horse and accepted Mel's leg-up. Once on the horse, her hands were shaking and she clung to the saddle and horse's mane for dear life. Mel climbed into her saddle and June gratefully loosened her hold on her reins. They set off to the north, the dark night swathed around them, protecting them from curious eyes.

* * *

 **Just** a little note, I will be trying to update on the regular but this is more of a relaxation thing for me so who knows how it will go! And howdy to everyone, its been a long time!


	3. The Witch

Thankfully it seemed as though the horses knew where they were going. The night's ride had been rough, the still howling winds spooked June's horse more than once and she had to recover her balance and courage. The first time it happened Windstar had followed in his footsteps and unsettled Ella. Once they had regained their composure the ride went smoothly.

The sun eventually broke the horizon, calming the horses and riders a like. The view was stupendous. Grasslands on one side, mountains on the other. June felt like she was in a waking dream, a fantasy world, or one of those movies with amazing cinematography. She was still having a hard time believing anything around her was real. She tried to enjoy the scenery, pretending she was just a trail ride with her sisters, every time she relaxed her shoulders and sighed at the beautiful land around her, her stomach would drop and the cold reality would rush into her veins; she wasn't _just_ on a trail ride. The niggling feeling in her stomach wouldn't cease, the idea that they were under constant threat by creatures they'd never seen before worried her.

"I'm hungry," Ella complained as they slowly trekked northwest now. The sun was high above them, it was somewhere around noon.

"There's cram in your pack," Mel suggested.

"It looks gross, didn't I have a granola bar?"

"Its also in there," Mel rolled her eyes and dug a hard piece of the biscuit from her bag. It didn't look at all appetizing but she knew they all needed to eat something. Ella happily ate her granola bar, shoving the wrapper back into her pack.

"You need to eat too, June," Mel said pushing her horse to keep up with June's. She shook her head, her face pale.

"I'm good," she said. Truthfully she probably would have just thrown up anything she ate at this point.

"June," Mel tried to push the subject but knew better. "Try to eat at some point, 'Kay?"

"Yeah," June nodded and gave Mel a weak smile.

They moved farther into the foothills as the sun made it's way beyond the mountains. The air grew cold and the horses became uneasy again. Thankfully they found a small circle of boulders that sheltered them from the wind. June removed the saddles from the horses, laying them on the ground to make makeshift pillows. She didn't dare let them wander to graze so she just prayed they ground tied to the smaller rocks as she had no way to hobble them.

"I'll take first watch," she said pulling her cloak tighter too her.

"You sure?" Mel asked.

"Yeah, I won't be able to sleep anyway," June shrugged and climbed on of the boulders that they made the little circle they were hunkering down in. She sat at the top of it, unable to see anything but the silhouettes of rocks in the dark.

"Just wake me up when you get too tired." Mel insisted. June nodded and turned her back to her sisters. Ella was already tucked into the farthest corner of the boulders, her head resting on her pack. Mel sat beside her staring up at the cloudless sky for while before dozing off.

The clouds had cleared early that morning leaving the sheer blue sky in their wake, the same sky was now an unforgiving black riddled with shining bright pinpricks. June tried to find constellations she was familiar with, Orion, Cassiopeia, the big dipper. None of them could be found. Instead, she made up new ones. A cluster of stars that only slightly resembled what could have been a small dog became Flufficus. A line of three stars spread out in a slight V shape became the Batty Constellation. Another, brighter star, that seemed to stand out from all the others became the Easter Star because it hung low in the eastern sky.

She didn't know how long she sat there, naming stars and distracting herself from less desirable thoughts. It seemed like forever. One of the horses had untied itself and wandered too far away for her comfort. She slid off the boulder and lazily walked after the horse. She returned him to his proper place and stretched. The wool of her pants itched and wondered if fleas were going to be a problem. The night drug on until it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. She woke Mel and gratefully took her place next to Ella, falling asleep almost immediately.

The next morning when Mel woke them, apparently June had stayed on watch too long and Mel only had a short time before the sun rose, Ella found herself so sore she could barely move. She lay on the cold ground quietly assessing just how much it was going to hurt when she got up. With a grimace, she pushed herself off the ground, the muscles in her legs, thighs, stomach, and even her arms cramped in protest. She bit back an expletive and tried to stretch, her back protested and she stopped mid-turn. She glanced at June and Mel, June seemed to be in the same state she was but Mel was already tacking up the horses, moving with ease. Ella shot her a glare and was suddenly very determined not to make a fuss about her sore muscle.

"Christ," June got to her feet slowly, limping when she took a few steps to help Mel with the horses. Ella beat her to the punch, picking up her saddle and walking to her horse. The little mare nickered softly and sniffed the saddle before Ella tried to heave it onto her back.

"It's backwards," June said quietly.

"What?" Ella said glaring at June.

Youre saddle is backwards," June said with a small smile. She lifted the saddle and turned it around so the was facing the correct way. Ella scrunched her face up and crossed her arms but let June finish saddling the horse.

They rode the next two days without incident. Ella complained, it rained, Mel got a terrible sunburn, her pale complexion turning ruddy and painful, June finally slept a decent amount on the third night. The dawn of the fourth day they rode past what they could only assume was Edoras, the home of the horse lords. Amondir had warned them very seriously against going there, though he gave no details as to why. Only that it was not safe.

Forest green banners hung limply from flagstaffs, splotches of white becoming visible every now and then as the breeze buffeted them. There seemed to be little life inside the walls of the city. They passed by, the vast wooden facade fading as they continued north, with no interruption.

"Are we there yet?" Ella asked, slumped over her saddle, trying to find a comfortable spot.

"Did you really just ask that?" June asked looking back at her youngest sister.

"Yeah," Ella giggled, a wry smile on her face. June shook her head and pushed her horse into an easy trot.

The day wore on, the sun beating down on them as the temperature rose. It had to have been spring, the days were blistering while the nights were freezing. They crested a small hill and in the far distance they could see the mountains split, the northern range veering more westward, small on the horizon. Their journey around Edoras had taken them farther from the mountains than expected.

"That must be it!" Mel shouted, she was a good distance away from them, her horse liked to keep away from the others. June nodded in agreement and gave her horse a little kick, he immediately broke into a rocking canter, the others following suit. Ella screaming about it all the while, despite June's advice to hush up and hang made it to the Gap of Rohan just as the sun was setting, Their horses heaved and sighed, thankful for the rest. They moved into the foothills on the southern side of the gap, searching for any sign of a house.

"An address would have been nice," Mel sighed looking up at the mountains. "GPS, anything."

"How about a line of Rocks?" Ella asked, pointing to a huge boulder half buried in the ground. It was twice as tall as any of near it. One hundred feet or so to the west stood another, and then another. In a perfect line. They followed the line of boulders to were the ground inclined sharply and grass gave way to stone. They dismounted their horses and began the trek into the mountains. It grew darker as the stone rose around them creating a narrow passageway. The horses snorted and pawed the ground, anxious to leave the tight alleyway of slate.

"Easy boy," June cooed to Fleetfoot as they slowly shuffled through the the pass. He huffed and pushed his head into June's shoulder making her stumble. The way began to lighten again, though not much as the sun was starting to disappear, and they came out the other side unscathed. The path widened greatly and an open plateau of stone lay before them. A bigger cliff than the one they woke up on, sored above creating a natural awning. In the dark corner where the cliff met the plateau a small shack stood, vacant and cold looking. A small brown horse was picketed outside, whining when it saw them. Windstar nickered back, her head flung into the air.

Before they could get any closer to the shack the door burst open and a wild-looking woman with blond hair cut to her chin ran out. She wielded a large, heavy looking sword in her hands and was screaming like a banshee. The horses shied away, Windstar breaking loose from Ella and making a beeline for the other horse tied near the house. Ella screamed and hid behind Mel while June tried to calm the panicked horses, putting Fleetfoot between herself and the crazed woman.

She stopped short from them, mere feet away, her nostrils flared, grey-blue eyes wide and unblinking.

"Who are you? Why are you on my mountain!?" She screeched, her voice raspy and breaking.

"Please, we aren't here to hurt you or anything!" June called from behind her horse, she gently placed her hand on his nose and pushed him back so she could see the woman. "I am June, these are my sisters, Mel and Ella, we were sent here by Amondir." She paused letting the information sink in. "Are you Margaret?"

Recognition shined in the woman's eyes and she let the sword fall so the tip rested on the ground. Her shoulders slumped and she looked almost relieved. "I have not been called Margaret in many years."

"Margaret, we need your help," June pleaded. Margaret kept a wary eye on them but nodded her head. She sheathed the sword and motioned for them to follow her.

"You can tie your horses next to Sara, she won't mind." The sisters tied their horses, Ella having to catch hers, removed their saddles and packs and followed the wild woman into her abode.

If they ever thought the building Amondir had brought them to was small then Margaret's home was miniscule in comparison. A bed stood in one corner, a small table with a single chair in the other, and a hearth took up the majority of the last wall. There were no windows, only the single door they entered through. Margaret stood on the far side of the room, her wide eyes darted to each of the sisters repeatedly, her back was painfully straight, arms crossed.

"Now why would the boy send me three women?" She looked down her nose at them, her expression overtly judging.

"He thought you might be able to help us," Mel said. "He said you weren't of this world…"

"No." Margaret's lips drew into a hardline. June's stomach sank. "No, I'm not."

The older woman sat at the table, her shoulders slumped, her face went slack, and she seemed to age 10 years. "It seems so long ago now."

"Where are you from?" Asked June quietly.

"Melbourne, Australia." Margaret croaked, her eyes fixed on the wall behind Ella's head. "God, I miss the city."

"What happened, how did you get here?" Mel asked, leaning forward and placing her hands on the table.

"Hell if I know, I was in a club with some girlfriends, passed out in the bathroom and woke up on the steps of Gondor." She spat the name of the city like it were poison. "Fuckin' hate that place."

"I don't get it," Ella said as she slumped against the wall and sat down on the floor. "How did we get here? Why are we all here?"

"I've been here over 20 years, I wish I had an answer for that." Margaret gave a sharp bark of a laugh. "So far all I've learned is how to hunt, how to hide, and how to fight, well I knew how to fight before, but now I have something heavy and sharp."

"How have you survived this long?" Mel asked. "I mean, if you were from the city and all."

"Not everyone here is terrible." Margret's features softened and a wistful smile graced her face. "Amondir, the people of Rohan, before the king went mad."

"That explains why Amondir told us to stay away from the city," June muttered, mostly to herself.

"They drove you here though," Mel insisted, her eyebrows furrowed and mouth set in a hard line. June knew what she was doing, she wanted cold, hard facts, reality was her friend, she wanted to know their chances.

"Theoden's rat faced servant drove me here, away from Edoras, away from the people who had become my family." The dark, dangerous, look was back in Margaret's eyes. "The Steward may have branded me with the title "Witch", but Wormtongue turned it into a banner, a sigil of my strangeness and he will do the same to you. It is no longer safe here."

"Why do you stay?" Asked Mel.

"I've nowhere else to go."

"You haven't even tried to go home?" Mel's voice was hard and urgent now, June took a step towards her, hand reaching for her shoulder. "You've chosen to die here." Margret rose to her feet, her mouth twisted in a snarl.

"You will leave my house." She did not shout, she didn't need to. Her eyes were granite and her hand rested on the handle of her sword. Mel met her gaze evenly, jaw set. "You underestimate this world, girl, and it will be your death, your sister's deaths, but not mine."

"Please," June pushed her sister behind her, hands raised. Behind them Ella scrambled to her feet. "Mel didn't mean it like that, we are all very on edge, we only want to find a way home."

"I wish you the best of luck, now leave." Margaret's nostrils flared and she pointed to the door.

"Margaret…" June pleaded. "At least let us make camp on the mountain, just for the night, we will be gone first thing in the morning."

"Fine, you will be gone in the morning." Margaret moved swiftly to the door, pushing it open.

"Thank you," June said sincerely. She steered Mel out the door and waited for Ella, Margaret slammed the door behind them, dust falling from the roof of the small home.

"What was that?" June asked turning on Mel as they made their way to the farthest corner of the cliffside hideout. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"We can't be trapped here." Mel said throwing her satchel into the corner. June sighed.

"We aren't trapped here Melly," Ella said in a way that was meant to be reassuring. "But we might be better off if we didn't make enemies while we are here." Mel grimaced and shook her head. She knew what she had done was rash and probably a huge mistake, Margaret was there only hope. She was frustrated, scared. Four days of riding in this barren land, seeing only the shell of Edoras to confirm that there was some sort of human inhabitants had left her worrying. As useless as it was.

"Let's get some rest, we can decide where to go in the morning," June said settling onto the ground. "Maybe Edoras is worth the risk."


	4. The Flowers

_Just a quick note, any information pertaining to the flora and fauna of middle is rudimentary at best. I did as much research regarding the plants as possible and without getting my hands on a copy of 'Flora of Middle Earth' I can't say for sure anything is accurate. Everything else is made up drivel._

Mel was woken by something heavy hitting her chest, she shot upright, hands reaching for the bow that was usually above her head. It wasn't there. Panicked she squinted into the dark, shuffling backward, the sun was still hiding behind the mountains.

"Calm down, Red." The voice was gruff but familiar enough now. "It's just me."

Margaret.

Mel let out a sigh and slumped forward, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"What are you doing?" She mumbled trying to make out something other than the older woman's silhouette.

"I've had a change of heart," Margaret said. "I don't want you or your sisters to die. It would make me feel guilty, I don't like the prospect of that."

"Gee, how thoughtful." Mel snipped, she reached out for the heavy bundle that had been tossed at her. It was fine, silky, furs; the promise of warmth. She pursed her lips. "Thank you."

"Don't get too comfortable," Margaret said. "This isn't going to be an easy adventure you've embarked on. It's very likely one, or all, of you may die."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Mel whispered, her eyes cast to her hands, pale against the dark furs. Margaret remained silent, the dark seemed to press down on them.

"I will do my best to make sure you have the knowledge to survive this hellhole," Margaret said, she turned on her heel and went back to her shack. Mel unrolled the furs and placed them over herself and her sisters. They stayed warm until the sun breached the jagged peaks of the mountains.

Mel had never gone back to sleep after Margaret had given them the furs. She watched the sun rise, watched the sky turn from inky black, to liquid grape, to flaming red. She watched her sister wake, all the while a concrete resolve forming in her heart. She would let no harm come to her sisters. At whatever cost.

"Morning," June mumbled, an arm slung across her face. Mel was already rolling the furs up, trying to pry them from Ella's fingers.

"Mmm, warm, stop!" Ella whined trying to burrow further into her little cocoon she had made.

"Ella. Let. Go." Mel growled, hovering over her. She gave one final yank and the blanket slid away from the half-asleep woman.

"I hate you," Ella whimpered, forced to sit up and face the day.

"I know," Mel spat. She rolled the furs up and carefully placed them on top of their packs.

"Stop you two, it's too early for that." June said, standing up. She stretched and readjusted her tunic and ran a hand through her hair. She needed a shower.

"Good, you're awake," Margaret burst from her home. She wore boots that wrapped around her legs, clear to her knees and a green tunic that was tucked into tan leggings. A bow was slung across her back and a quiver of arrows was at her hip. She walked with purpose, not slowing to acknowledge them. "Follow me!"

June and Ella looked at each other quizzically as Mel jogged off after Margaret.

"Okay…" Ella said. They followed Margaret through the narrow passageway and into the light of day on the other side of the mountain. She lead them farther up the narrow crags, jumping and balancing on the sharp stones with an ease that none of them possessed. She got so far ahead of them they lost sight of her, Mel kept on, insisting she knew where she had gone. Thankfully that was the case. They found her waiting for them in a deep valley hidden by the mountains reaching peaks. It wasn't a very large swath of land but a plethora of greenery and animals seemed to make it home. Best of all, in the very center of the valley as a crystal clear lake sat nestled into the mortar of earth.

"Wow," Ella breathed as they trekked down slopes of the mountain.

"It's beautiful," June said, watching a flock of white birds take flight from the lake. "Why not make your home here?"

"This place doesn't need to be any more disturbed than it is," Margaret said. "I shouldn't have even brought you here." The sisters stood in awkward silence.

"Regardless, I have," Margaret pulled a small bundle from her pocket and motioned to the lake. "You may bathe, it's freezing so try to make it quick. After that I will show you the plants that are safe." She threw the bundle to Mel, stalked around the lake's edge and disappeared into the woods.

June didn't hesitate, she stripped off the dirty clothes she had been wearing for the last five days and eased her feet into the water. It truly was freezing, it must have been spring fed from the mountain itself. She stepped out of the water and onto a small boulder that jutted out of over the lake. The sun was warming its surface feeling divine on her sore feet. Mel unwrapped the bundle to find soft tan soap that smelled of oatmeal.

"Well, come on!" She urged her sisters to join her, unwilling to plunge into the icy depths of the crystal pool alone. Ella hesitated only a moment before removing her own clothes and standing proudly on the rock next to June. They both stared down at Mel expectantly. The middle sister sighed, rolled her eyes, and slowly removed her boots. Clothes thrown into the pile with the rest she climbed up onto the rocks and stood with her sisters.

"One." June said, a smile blooming on her lips.

"Two," Ella said, catching her eldest sister's eye and nodding conspiratorially.

"Three!" They shouted and both placed their hands on Mel's back, pushing her into the lake. Laughing June then pushed Ella to the edge but couldn't free herself from her clinging grasp and ended up falling in with her. The water was so cold it crushed the breath from her lungs and stung her eyes. She flailed and pushed towards the surface, desperate for air.

Ella and Mel had already broke the surface and were swimming for shore, laughing and splashing as they went. June followed, her body getting used to the chilly water. They stayed close to shore, quickly washed up and pulled their clothes back onto still damp bodies.

"Ella," June waved the black elastic band she had managed to save in Ella's direction. "Braid?" Her hair was longer than it had ever been, rather unfortunate at the moment as it kept getting in her eyes and mouth at the most inconvenient times. Ella obliged and worked on separating June's long hair into three sections.

Just as she finished the braid Margaret came out of the woods holding two large hares, dead.

"Here," She threw the dead rabbits at Ella's feet. "You'll carry those, they're lunch."

"Ew," Ella delicately picked up one of the rabbits by the foot. Her face twisted into a grimace.

"Have fun with that," June laughed.

"Let's go, never dally too long in one place when you are hunting or traveling." Margaret lead them up the same path she had used when she left them before. The forest was cool and green, the sound of birds and squirrels filled the air. It was almost like home. The trees themselves though were large, ancient, cloaked in moss and vines of plants none of them could name.

"Always be aware of what's around you," Margaret stopped, but didn't turn towards them.

"We, uh, sort of grew up… in the woods…" June glanced behind her, and then to Mel who wore the same curious look she did.

"Okay," Margaret turned on June. She gave her a look that would have matched her mother's. She grabbed a cluster of blue-black berries from a nearby shrub and held them out to June. "If you're so sure, eat up." June let the little berries roll in her hand, they weren't recognizable. They were the size of uncooked peas and when she crushed one between her fingers they were filled with hard black seeds.

"No thanks," June said letting the berries fall to the ground. Anything with that many seeds was either bitter or poisonous. Margaret shook her head and picked a berry up, popping it in her mouth.

"You grew up in _your_ woods, these woods, these woods are ancient and filled with things you cannot even fathom." Margaret spat the seeds out at June's feet. "You aren't in Kansas anymore ladies."

June felt the heat of embarrassment in her face and chill of fear in her spine. The joyous mood their dip in the lake had brought vanished abruptly and with it came the realization that if they were going to survive here, they were going to have to adapt.

"Come on," Margaret lead them further into the depths of the forest, leaving all frivolity behind.

They spent several days in the woods identifying plants and animal signs. The animals were easy, at least in this thicket of woods, squirrels, deer, the occasional mountain goat, rabbits, all things they had back home. The insects and plants were a different story. If it was pretty it probably wasn't something you wanted to touch. The plants were deceiving, what looked like sharp brambles were rubbery and edible and soft looking yellow flowers were rife with small barbs on the underside of their petals and great for making poisons. June was having the damnedest time keeping her fingers off the plants and while Mel was ever the attentive student it was Ella who shocked nearly everyone, including herself, by being rather ingenious when it came to the plants. She was able to tell the difference between two fruits that looked nearly identical save that one was deadly and the other not. She could combine plants to create healing salves and knew not to taste an overripe berry that turned dangerous when fermenting.

"I don't get it," Mel said as they sat around a small fire. They had placed stones in a circle in their corner of Margaret's cliffside yard to create a small hearth to stay warm and cook. Margaret often joined them around their fire, as she did that night. "How do you manage to identify every plant here but you refuse to even eat lettuce at home?"

"I think that's the key," Ella laughed. "You must know your enemy to defeat it!"

"Well, at least one of us will be able to garden without maiming themselves," June said wiggling her mutilated fingers. She was feeling rather useless at the moment. Ella had conquered the flora, Mel always had excelled at tracking and hunting, while June was… there. She prefered tactility of her horses, the strings of instruments, and pages of books. She loved the wilderness but maybe she was only meant to admire it. Margaret snorted, bringing June out of her self-pity stupor.

"If you'd learn to look and not touch it would help." She said, but she gave June a warm smile.

"Can't argue with you there," June chuckled. She tucked her aching hands under her thighs. "Minnesota is so much easier."

"Is that where you are from?" Margaret asked.

"Not far from Duluth," Mel confirmed.

"I lived in a small town south of Minneapolis," Margaret confessed, her eyes were far away. "Seems like ages ago now."

"Minneapolis?" Ella asked curiously. "How did we all manage to end up here, like this?"

"Maybe we should all get some rest, we will head into the gap tomorrow, see if we can spot a couple wargs so Mel can practice her aim." Margaret laughed getting up. The abrupt derailment of their conversation left the three sisters baffled. "See you girls in the morning."

"Night Margaret," the chorus of voices made Margaret pause for the moment but she kept going before anyone noticed. Could it be possible, she wondered, would they find a way home? These three women, who were no older than herself when she first came to this forsaken land, would they be her last hope? Or would they fall into the perilous clutches of Middle Earth's wilder things, just as she had? She didn't know, but for the first time in nearly 10 years, she felt hope again. With that thought she closed her door and crawled into her bed, saying a silent prayer to anyone who would listen. Keep them safe.

The next day, after they had swallowed a quick breakfast, they took their horses, and left the mountains. The planes were still barren and vast, though not nearly as imposing as they once were. June smiled at their expanse, happy to see the freedom of open sky and land.

They went north a ways before turning sharply to the west. They could not see what the gap in the mountain ranges opened to for the land sloped upwards. It wasn't until they crested the hill that they could see the endless land on the other side of the mountains. To the north a forest grew, dark and tall, even from the distance is sent shivers down Ella's spine. She turned from it and looked west again. Everything was yellow and blue, a silver ribbon of water cut through the land, meandering northwest. It was too picturesque.

"We will leave the horses here and follow the river, the wargs stray from Isengard and become easy targets." Margaret said. She had provided them each with homemade hobbles to keep the horses from straying too far. The four women trekked along the foothills, using boulders and steep inclines to hide. Mel, already a proficient tracker, reminded them to test the wind and keep low. They finally came upon a small pack of the wargs and they were not at all what Mel had expected. They were huge for one, the size of small horses, their bodies had a downward slope like a hyena, their upper torsos heavily muscled. They were mostly the color of sand with a few variations, one was more red than the others and boasted a long mane of fur around its neck.

"They look more like lions than wolves," Mel whispered. Despite the lack of volume in her voice the warg still heard her, it swung its massive head to look in their direction, its ear pricked forward, curiosity burning in its yellow eyes. Mel's heart was beating wildly but she slowly, steadily, drew her bow and nocked an arrow. The warg was trotting in their direction now, splitting from its pack. Mel looked to Margaret for confirmation, the older woman nodded her own bow ready. Mel stood then and quickly took aim at the creature. Undaunted the warg kept trotting towards them until Mel's arrow sang through the air and impacted with its right shoulder. The animal gave a chilling howl and turned on its haunches to run back to its pack only to be brought down by a second arrow to the ribs. It was too late though, the rest of the pack had heard its cry and was coming to investigate.

"Better aim next time," Margaret said calmly as she fitted another arrow to her bow. "Eyes, lungs, heart."

"I know," Mel growled following suit. They sent a volley of arrows into the pack, Mel downed her second warg on the first shot this time, striking it directly in the right eye socket. Margaret downed the remaining two while Ella and June watched with awe.

"That was disgusting," Ella said once they retrieved the arrows from the dead wargs.

"It's necessary," Margaret said solemnly. "Lets get them into a pile."

Much to Ella's displeasure they pulled the heavy wargs into a rough stack and Margaret doused them in oil. She then set them alight and stepped back.

"They're not good for anything?" June asked, her nose crinkled at the smell of the burning animals.

"Their meat is rancid and tough, their pelts are only worth something if they're not mangy." Margaret said.

"Seems a waste," June muttered.

"It is," Margaret said frowning. "Come on."

They made their way back to the mountain in silence. Ella completely revolted by the experience, June considering the necessity of taking a life, and Mel committed to making her aim better.

* * *

The sun was lingering longer in the sky now, there was a warmth in the nights and the ever present rains had all but ceased. Margaret sent the sisters to the valley to collect vegetables for their dinner early in the evening one day. Birds were chirping incessantly and the heady smell of summer grass was thick in the air. June, Ella, and Mel walked the path to the valley carelessly, laughing and pushing each other back and forth. Ella ran ahead, her dark raspberry curls streaming behind her. They were adapting, June thought, as she let the two younger women get farther in front of her. Slowly. Ella still complained about not having her phone or computer, Mel couldn't help but fuss over tasks that were much easier with electricity. They were adapting though, Ella was more than sufficient with a knife and her herbalist skills, Mel had always been a force to reckon with, but her aim with a bow surpassed even Margaret now. June was even becoming skilled with a sword.

Mel pulled the skinny white tubulars from the water of a small pond, shaking the excess mud from them before throwing them into the burlap sack June held out. Several feet away Ella was wading through the knee deep water plucking berries from the odorous bushes that overhung the pond.

"I wonder what mom is doing…" Ella said absently, not really meaning to voice her question out loud. Mel stiffened. She didn't like to talk about their mother anymore, she was convinced that she was home, grief stricken and potentially dying.

"I'm sure she is fine," June said. "She's resilient."

Mel made a strangled noise of contempt but before June could refute the vocalization she noticed a dark stream of smoke rising to the north of them. Margaret's home.

"What is that?" She squinted at the smoke and tilted her head.

"Smoke," Mel said standing up, katniss tubers forgotten. The three were as quick as they had ever been as they sprinted from their valley sanctuary. They raced through the thin mountain passes, caution all but forgotten.

"We have to get Margaret," Mel said, her eyes wide with fear.

Chaos was the only word that could be used to describe the scene they found. The tiny shack that they had called home for so long was ablaze, Margaret was viciously fighting off three men, three times her size. Unfamiliar horses fled the bright fire, their copper manes flying like bloodied banners. The meager store of herbs and flour they had accumulated were spread across the rocky land stark against the dark ground.

Mel was the first to shake away the heavy blanket of shock and launch into the fray. She knocked one, incredibly dirty, man away from Margaret and managed to pry his sword away from him. June pulled Ella out of the way of the charging horses and shoved her to their corner of the cliff. Their packs lay untouched, the daggers and sword Amondir had given them blessedly inside.

"Here," She shoved the daggers into Ella's hands and took the sword. She went to join Mel but Ella's sallow face gave her pause. "Ella."

Ella didn't answer, she looked at the twin knives held too tightly in her hands. She still had obnoxiously bright nail polish clinging to her nails. Flecks of normality.

"Ella!" June snapped and shoved Ella's shoulder back. She snatched the daggers from her sisters hands and pushed her towards their tied horses. "Get the horses, lets go." Ella scrambled towards her snowy mare. With shaking hands she threw saddles over backs, hoping everything was in the right position. Just as she tightened the last cinch she heard a paniced cry, she swung around in time to watch Mel and June pull a large man off Maragret. They threw the limp body to the side and flanked Margaret as she lay on the hard ground. Even from the distance she could see the dark stain welling across Margarets abdomen. Fear grounded her to her spot next to the horses, horror draining the remaining color from her face. Margaret clung to Mel's tunic, her pale lips moved but Ella couldn't hear anything. She watched as her older sisters left Margaret, tears stained Mel's face and June had blood on her hands. They rushed to Ella and lead their horses down the narrow mountain path. Ella risked a glance over her should, more men streamed down from the upper peak of the mountain that overshadowed their once peaceful home, flickering like shadows in the darkening night.

Adrenaline charged through Ella's veins, her vision darkened and her hands shook in its powerful wake. Mel shouted something to her left as they careened through the mountain passes too fast. Her hearing was muddled though and she couldn't tell what she said. They broke though the narrow canyon to the lush grasslands and turned north. She could see how that Mel hadn't been speaking to her, she was yelling out in pain. Her horse had hit the rock wall the entire left side of her face was scraped, her horse was worse off, a large portion of his shoulder torn and bleeding. He continued to run for all he was worth.

June came up beside her, holding her horse back. She didn't want to lose her sisters and her horse was willing to nearly fly. There was fear in her eyes as she looked back, Ella risked the glance behind her. The wild men, on dark, long legged horses, were swiftly catching up with them. She fought back a scream and the little white mare stuck out her neck, reaching with her legs to cover the earth quicker. June let her horses head go and was soon leading them across the golden plains.

Beyond a large outcropping of rocks the Gap of Rohan sprawled languidly, in its vast reaches a small band of wild men waited for them. The sudden appearance of the men and horses spooked June's stallion, he sat back on his haunches and spun away from the roaring men, eyes rolling. June came unseated and landed hard on the ground, she wasted no time unsheathing the sword at her hip and grasping wildly to the horses reins.

Mel and Ella came to a sudden stop but managed to stay on their horses. They men converged on them in an instant. June hacked into anyone who dared get near her. Mel pulled the bow from her back and fired behind them, into their pursuers, while Ella whimpered in fear. There was a sudden pressure on Mel's left leg and she was pulled swiftly from her saddle. She screamed with such intensity her assaulter stopped in his tracks. It wasn't a good decision, after a moment of deliberation and the man hit her hard upside the head. She fell sideways, into her horse. The horse spooked forward dragging Mel with her. She fell unceremoniously at the feet of the wild men. Her vision was filled with their leering, mud stained, faces as Ella's screams continued in some far off place. With a strength she didn't know she possessed she got to her feet and began fighting her way towards Ella's desperate voice. The bow she had was long forgotten so she used her elbows, nails, and teeth, which didn't get her very far. Rough hands held her back even when she bit into leather and flesh. She watched Ella be pulled into a group of men, their gravely speech dying in her ears.

Ella sobbed as they tied her wrists together with hewen rope, she fought as much as she could but adrenaline and fear left her weak and shaking. She searched wildly for her sisters, june was feet away, her sword running clean though a man who approached her. She was winded, her hair had come loose of its braid and her cheeks were stained with blood.

"June!" Ella screamed her sisters name, tearing the fabric of her her vocal chords. One particular large man weilding an axe was at her back. June swung around, embedding the sword in his abdomen, her eyes grew wide as the man gasped, gurgling as he slumped forward. She could could smell his rank breath, see the flecks of green in his brown eyes as the life faded from them. She felt bile rise in her throat as she pushed him away. Her hands were warm and sticky with his blood. She ignored the sensation and turned back towards her sisters. They were being hauled away from her, thrashing and screaming. Mel spit in the face of one of her captors and in turn was backhanded in response. Panic crept into Junes veins, she couldn't fight all of the wild men alone but she was not leaving her sisters to their fate.

"June run!" Ella screeched bringing June out of her worry. "Run!"

There were three men closing in around her, her sisters voices echoed in her ears the command to run. June swallowed hard, locking eyes with Ella first, then Mel. She gave them a look of desperate longing and turned on her heel. She ran for the dark forest knowing she wouldn't get there before her pursuers got to her. She tried as hard as she could though, one foot in front of the other until by some unknown miracle she breached the threshold of the woods. As soon as she did all the sounds of struggle and heavy footed men following her faded. Not just faded but they ceased all together. She didn't know what drove her farther into the forests dark embrace, panic or adrenaline, she kept tripping, stumbling over unseen obstacles, but pushing on. She hit her shin on a particlarly strong root and went rolling across the mossy ground. Her breath came in shaking, raspy gaps that quickly changed from exertion to anxiety laced hyperventilation. Tears blurred her vision as she slowly rolled onto her hands and knees. She tried to keep her grip on her sanity, her entire body shook as she tired to slow her breathing and the inconsolable sobbing that racked her lungs.

She gagged on the tears and snot she couldn't manage to fight. Finally emptying the content of her stomach onto the innocent ferns before her. She sank her fingers into the cold, damp dirt grounding herself to the moment. Sweat dripped down her nose as her breathing deepened. She pushed herself away from the pile of sick, crawling into the roots of a huge, moss covered tree. Hiccups jerked her abdomen as she curled up into the arms of the trees roots. June didn't move for a longtime. She sat with her knees drawn up to her chin, her eyes shut tight against the reality before her. The horror stricken faces of her sisters mingled with the ashen, glassy eyed stare of margaret as she lay dead. Why had they come here? Why did it have to be her sisters? Why had they not been able to save Margaret. A thousand questions chased a thousand thoughts as she sobbed into her arms. She refused to believe that she wouldn't see her sisters again. She cried until she was sure she would never speak again; unconcerned that her sobs were attracting the creatures of the forest.


	5. The Forest

Mel was thrown roughly into a small wooden cell that resembled a giant wicker basket. There were already five or six women stuffed into the cage, wide-eyed and filthy. The stench of human excrement and bodies nearly made Mel retch. Ella soon followed, unconscious, she rolled lifelessly across the dirt floor, her burgundy curls matted with blood. Mel rushed the door with a feral scream but it was too late. Their captors had shut and locked the door before she even reached it, leaving them all in dusky darkness broken by small slivers of light peeking through the gaps in the wooden walls.

Mel scrambled over to Ella and pulled her into her lap. She pushed her hair away from the large gash on her head. They had tried to orchestrate an escape and it had ended terribly. Now Ella was less than useful and Mel was starting to panic.

"Shit, come on, Ell," she muttered to herself as she tore the sleeve off her tunic. She wrapped it around Ella's head the best she could, trying to staunch the bleeding. "Hey!" Mel suddenly became aware that there were several other women in the cage with her.

"Hey, hey, what is this? Where are we?" she asked, eyes flicking from one woman to the next. No one answered. "Do any of you understand me?" Her voice was higher than usual, shaking at the end of her sentence.

"We've been taken by the dunlendings," a small girl with stringy, yellow hair piped up from the very back of the cage. "We are far from Rohan, west of the gap." The young girl inched closer to Ella and Mel, her bright blue eyes staring curiously at Ella.

"I am Heulyn," she said softly.

"Mel."

"I am of Rohan, do you hail from Gondor?"

"Sure," Mel said, distractedly, she pushed her fingers to Ella's neck, her pulse was blessedly steady.

"As I thought, your accent is very odd," Heulyn made herself comfortable on the ground next to Mel. "I have never been to Gondor." Mel wasn't paying attention to the young girl as she rambled on. She was trying to devise a way for them to escape. Ella, however, needed to wake up first.

Heulyn was about to start on another keel of babble but her mouth snapped shut. Her eyes widened and she started to shake as she hid herself behind Mel. Mel looked up, wondering what had spooked the young girl. Someone was approaching the wicker basket they were held in. The other occupants of the cage shrank as far back as they could, their eyes cast away from the door or all together shut. The lumbering figure stopped at the cell door, yellow cast eyes peered in and a black bladed dagger was slowly dragged across the closely woven sticks of the door. He spoke in a gruff voice, words that Mel couldn't understand, not loud enough to be threatening but the intonation was there. The glint in his dark eyes said all that needed to be said. He ended his speech by slamming his hand against the bars, eliciting a few screeches from the women inside.

"What was that?" Mel asked as Heulyn crawled out from behind her.

"We call him Bwystfil," Heulyn whispered, her eyes flicking from the door to the ground and back again. "He is an awful beast." Mel's mouth set in a hard line and she laid Ella on the ground.

"We have to get out of here," she said. She gently smacked Ella's face, trying to wake her. "Ella please, wake up." She hovered over her little sister, hoping desperately to hear her annoying voice. Suddenly a pale hand pushed her away.

"What are you doing?" Mel's voice rose an octave. One of the other women that was occupying the cage had moved to sit beside Ella. She took one hand and covered Ella's mouth, the other came to close around her nose.

"Stop!" Mel tried to lunge at the woman to stop her from suffocating her little sister but just as she pushed the woman away Ella came to life, gasping for air.

"Ella!" Mel caught her flailing sister, nearly weeping in relief.

"Mel?" Ella's voice was raspy and slurred. "What happened? Where are we?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Mel asked helping Ella to sit upright.

"Getting cold-cocked by a Dothraki wanna be." Ella grumbled lifting a hand to her wounded head. "Wait, where is June?"

"She made it to the forest, I think," Mel said quietly. "Hopefully she makes it to Lothlorien."

"She will," Ella said confidently. "She will. So... where are we?"

"West of the mountains, near Dunland." The woman who revived Ella spoke.

"Great, not anywhere I want to be," Ella said resignedly.

"What is your name?" Mel asked of the woman. She was ignored.

"Her name is Brynmor," Huelyn "She is of Snowbourn as am I."

"Hush child, you do not tell such things to those we do not know!" Brynmor chastised the young girl, her brow drawn deeply in agitation.

"I only wanted to thank you, Brynmor," Mel said, shooting Heulyn a look to stop her from arguing further. The woman only inclined her head solemnly.

"Now, we really need to get out of here."

"There's no escaping them, they will only kill us, or worse," Heulyn said with a shiver.

"Stop that nonsense," Brynmor chastised her.

"'Tis but the truth!" Heulyn crossed her arms and turned away from Brynmor.

Ella looked around her, she took stock of the dirty, fear stricken, faces. All women, all fair haired and young. This was far worse than she had first thought. These women were beaten, stained, abused. Worst of all they were scared. It would be very difficult to convince them they could escape. Unscathed or not.

"Mel," Ella rocked to her knees and pulled Mel's arm, dragging her away from the more occupied corner of the cell. "We can't leave them."

"Ella, we have the best chance if we escape on our own," Mel said quietly.

"Mel…" Ella fixed her older sister with a look that rivaled their mother. "We are not leaving these women."

"Ella…"

"Mel…"

"Fine." Mel conceded. "They're your responsibility though."

Ella gave her a look that suggested it would be an easy task. She crawled back to the group of women, more were showing their curiosity now, their wide, unblinking eyes eerie in the dim light.

"Hey, hi, I'm Ella," She addressed the entire cell, smiling warmly as she would. The blood caked to the side of her face dampened the effect a little. "We have to break out of here and find our sister. It's not going to be easy, but we would like for all of you to join us. We don't want to leave anyone behind."

"It's useless, we won't get far before they capture us again." Another woman spoke up, her voice high pitched but meek.

"Yes we will," Mel said, scooting forward on her knees. "But we don't know this area nearly as well as all of you. We need your help."

* * *

There was little time wasted. The women held hostage by the dunlendings were just desperate enough to escape. The threat of what horrors lied with the wildmen drove them to cooperate with Mel's demands. They formed a plan as quickly as possible. Unfortunately the walls of the crudely made cell were stronger than anyone expected. Even their entire strength could not budge the thick wicker beams. They were set upon stone so digging under was out of the question and the dunlendings cruelty was too profound to fake any sort of emergency, they'd be ignored no doubt. Byrnmor told them the men often took women from the cage in the evenings and they were given what barely passed as food once a day. So they waited.

As the sun began to set, the distant sound of horses, men, and even the laughter of children echoed around the intensely silent cell. They all waited with baited breath, watching closely for someone to open the cell door.

The longer they waited the more intense the pain in Ella's head grew. Her stomach was churning without any substance in it and she could barely turn her head without the world spinning. She watched Mel as she napped in the corner of the cell. Her hair was longer now, shaggy and unkempt, it flopped over her face in an almost comical way, hiding her ruddy, sunburned cheeks.

There was a commotion from the front of the cell, some of the younger women, hardly older than Heulyn, had been keeping a close watch.

"Someone is coming!" Heulyn whispered with urgency. Everyone moved quickly into the agreed upon positions. Ella slapped Mel who came awake with a jerk just as the shadow of the man eclipsed the door. Mel was on her feet as quick as a hare, ready for the assault. They were all huddled into the front most corners of the cell, out of sight of anyone who simply looked into the door. The sound of the key scraping the lock open was enough to send adrenaline fueled shivers down Ella's spine… or did she have a fever?

A woman next to her trembled, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, before Ella could reassure her the guard, reasonably confused by their apparent absence, stepped inside.

What should have been a feral, screaming, wild fight by these imprisoned women was a silent attack. Mel brought her sinewy arm around the huge man's neck, cutting off his air supply. Quickly as they could the women converged on them, disarming him. Brynmor held the keys in one hand, his dagger in the other. She was panting, a wild look of horror and pain in her eyes. With a twisted grimace she ran the blade into his belly just as he collapsed from Mel's choke hold.

"Quickly," Mel ushered the women from the cell. They wound their way around to the back and down the hill that merged into the waiting mountains. As the last woman left the cell Mel looked for Ella. She was standing exactly where she had been before the assault, staring at the man Brynmor had killed. "Ella."

Mel grabbed her sisters arm and pulled her out the door, jogging to catch up with the others. By some miracle they made it down the hill and into the shadows of the mountain side. They were safely hidden in the boulders and crags when the first commotion started from below. Men were shouting and hoof beats drummed against the air. They were headed in the wrong direction, another lucky development.

"Keep going," Mel demanded when the women stopped to look back at the source of the sound.

"Where, exactly, are we going?" Asked Heulyn, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Dunharrow." Brynmor said from the front of their group. She never looked back, her face set in determined lines. They could only trust her guidance.

* * *

June's tears had finally ceased. Her face was tight with dried tears and her mouth was drawn down in an exaggerated frown. She couldn't feel her rear end anymore and her legs were cramping from being held in the same position for so long. She couldn't will herself to move though. She stared directly in front of her, blinking only when she couldn't stand the dryness of her eyes. Her chest hurt, her body hurt, her soul hurt. She had never known such pain and such numbness at the same time. Nothing could convince her to move from the spot she had settled into. The warm roots of the ancient tree she sat against would be a perfect place to rest for eternity. She was perfectly content with this, so when she pushed herself from the ground and took three unsteady steps it surprised her. She had no knowledge of this place. Only its name. Fangorn. Entwood is what Margaret had called it. Something out of her nightmares no doubt. She stopped, wobbled on aching legs and numb feet, then stepped farther into the forest.

This place was familiar. The world was covered in green, in moss, in lichen; rich, emerald, and velvet. The trees were like elderly men, bent and wrinkled. Some were grumpy, others pleasantly excited to have company. Was she anthmophizing the trees? She shook her head, her feet carrying her onward, towards glittering shafts of afternoon light that filtered through the canopy of green above. The ground was soft but uneven, at some point June had pulled her boots off and was now walking through the plush forest carpet barefoot. It felt freeing, the earth connected directly to her feet, like taking a cool shower on a hot day.

Critters could be heard now. Scurrying, chattering, chirping, and whistling among the branches and through the forest floor. She could feel them somehow, their heart beats, through her feet. Everything was thrumming with the forest, living, connected. June stopped and blinked; her feet sinking into the mossy ground. She felt like she was losing her mind, or maybe it was some sort of stress induced hallucination, a fever dream. The world was hazy, laced in golden light that spotted the forest floor, bouncing down from the canopy and shifted whenever the wind blew. The wind never reached her though, the air was still and almost suffocating. She never saw the scurrying creatures that seemed to be following her, she only hoped it was squirrels… The oddest thing was the trees. The trees were shifting. Moving so she had no choice but to follow the path they laid for her. She choked back a sob that was mingled with laughter and shook her head. Of course the forest was moving. She shrugged, unwilling to admit she was in some sort of enchanted forest, and kept walking down the preordained path.

The farther she walked the less reality the forest held. She wandered through a small clearing where it seemed a rather large tree had fallen across her path, determined to keep going she walked the long way around. As she came to the otherside, where the forest opened once more to her, she spotted the rugged surface of the tree. By some form of Pareidolia the rough bark twisted into a gnarled face; eyes firmly shut, as if it were sleeping. Casting only a brief, wary, glance to the face in the tree she followed where the forest lead her. Over a river, down a steep hill, through a thicket of berry brambles she gladly took the sweet fruit from. That was a mistake, for it seemed the berries were not something to be trifled with. Her tongue went numb first then her vision swam. The trees, mocking her with singing, windy laughter, pushed her farther on.

She stumbled onward until she couldn't even feel her legs anymore. She couldn't feel anything. She reached up to her face with fingers stained crimson from the berries. Or was that blood? She couldn't tell. Suddenly the ground was above her and sky below and everything seemed insignificant from this angle. June blinked twice, a thousand multi-legged insects converged on her, or that is what it felt like. She couldn't see anymore. She was falling….

Down…

Down…

Down…

Until darkness seemed a welcoming home.

Light grew in her dim vision, lighter and brighter until all she could see was warm golden light. It was comforting. She didn't want to spoil the ambient cocoon she had fallen into but a persistent and rather annoying picking at her left hand needed to be addressed. Slowly June rolled her head to the left and and peeled her eyes open. A small sparrow-like bird with patches of red and purple on its wings was sitting in her open palm, occasionally pecking at her fingers. June arched her eyebrow and wrinkled her nose.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her voice was hoarse. The bird cocked its head to the side, hopped up her arm a little ways, and then took flight into the trees. June groaned and tried to shake the hazy feeling out of her mind. She looked to her right and above her, she was laying on the forest floor, a shaft of sunlight pooling around her. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep but the chill in the air and chipper bird calls indicated that it was once again morning. She pushed herself up and as she did the blanket of woven pine boughs fell away from her.

"What the hell…" June curiously picked the blanket of tree limbs up. It was unnaturally soft and smelled less like pine and more like patchouli and peppermint. Exasperated by the increasingly strange events, she put her head in her hands. It was then she felt the stems and leaves of a flower crown that was woven into her hair. She froze, fingers just barely touching the delicate blossoms on the circlet of living plants. She pressed her lips together and blinked a few times. A bubble of laughter broke through her sealed lips. She jumped at the noise, not quite convinced it came from her. She laughed again, the pealing burst of erratic humor shaking her body. Clearly she was having some sort of break down. The absurdity of everything that had been happening in her life crashed down on her as she sat beneath the old trees, crying with insane laughter.

"I'm losing my ever-loving mind," she spoke to no one. She wiped the tears that spilled down her cheeks on the backs of her hands and pushed the peculiar blanket off of her. Her body seemed overly refreshed and her legs twitched to entice movement. She needed to keep going, get through the forest of trickery and find help for her sisters.

Her sisters.

Swiftly June got to her feet, anger and panic boiling in her chest once again. She pulled her boots back on and in some futile attempt to reclaim her self awareness she flung the blanket of twigs upon her back like a cloak. The crown of flowers all but forgotten upon her brow.

She raced as quickly as the forest would allow her, the faster she went though, the more angry the trees became. They lashed out at her with gnarled limbs streaking her face with thin scratches and tearing the fabric of her tunic. She pushed through the tangled brambles, thorns pricking her legs and hands, clawing desperately at each new patch of sunlight she came to. Night fell again and she didn't have the heart to stop. She kept on, ignoring the roaring sounds in the distance and the ache in her legs and lungs. Moonlight spotted the ground before her, the path long gone. She jumped from one glimmering blue pool to the next, desperate to chase the light to a new dawn.

Just as she thought she could go no further, just as her legs began to tremble and go weak, the edge of the forest broke open and the silver painted landscape gleamed like a gilded painting. A sob bubbled to her lips and she stumbled through the treeline and breathed the cool night air. Her knees finally gave way and she rolled through the long thick grass. She came to a stop on her back, her breathing sharp and erratic. Her eyes reflected the dancing midnight stars only briefly before they fell shut and she was taken by sleep.


End file.
